Joseph r



(No Model.) I

v J. B. SMITH. BODKIN FOR ATTA'GHING BUTTONS.

N0.*4'3O,405. Patented June 1'7, 1890.

UNITED STATES PAT NT OFFICE.

JOSEPH R. SMITH, OF WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE l/VATERBURY BUTTON COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

BODKIN FOR ATTACHING BUTTONS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 430,405, dated June 17, 1890.

Application filed January 20, 1890. Serial No. 337 496. (No model.) I

' Vaterbury, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented new Improvements in BodkinsforAttaching Buttons; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked there'- on, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in-

Figure 1, a side view of the bodkin complete; Fig. 2, a base end view; Fig. 3,a transverse section on. line 00 :12; Fig. 4, the blank from which the bodkin is formed; Figs. 5 and 6, vertical sections to illustrate the use of the bodkin with different kinds of fasteners; Fig. 7, a modification.

This invention relates to an improvement in the construction of a device for attaching that class of buttons in which the fastener is passed through a hole made in the garment, and then the button forced onto the fastener. The bodkin is employed to pass through the garment in advance of the fastener.

The object of my invention is asimple, cheap, and effective construction of bodkin; and it consists in the construction as hereinafter described, and particularly recited in the claim.

The blank from which the bodkin is formed is cut from sheet metal, substantially the shape seen in Fig. 4, the body A tapering from the base end to substantially a point, and of a width corresponding to the circumference of the bodkin. At the base end projections a are formed, the combined width of which corresponds to the circumference of the shank required for the bodkin. This blank is then struck or folded into angular shape, as seen in Fig. 3, to bring the two edges together into a sharp angle, and form severalother angles, as d. Theseangles are sharp and run from thebase to the point, as seen in Fig. 1, broken lines, Fig. 4,

indicating the lines on which the folds or bends are made. The projections a; a from the base end are struck into cylindrical shape to form the shank B 'of the bodkin, the diameter of this shank corresponding to the diameter of the shank of the fastener. In some cases the fastener has a solid shank, as seen in Fig. 5, and is therefore adapted to set into the inside of the shank of the bodkin. In other cases the shank of the fastener is tubular, as seen in Fig. 6, in which case the shank of the bodkin is best adapted to set into the inside of the fastener, as also seen in Fig. 6.

The sides of the bodkin are preferably made concave in transverse section, as seen in Figs. 2 and 3, which facilitates the producing of the sharp angles. This angular shape of the bodkin gives to it a cutting effect to pass through the fabric of the garment, and requires less force than does the usual construction of round bodkin, as the cutting or wedging action of this angular bodkin more readily forces the material than does the round bodkin. The shank of the bodkin is best made with the two projections a a, each forming one-half of the cylindrical shank, as seen in Fig. 2; but it may be made from a single projection, as seen in Fig.7, that single projection being struck into the required cylindrical shape.

I claim The herein-described bodkin for attaching buttons, made from a triangular piece of sheet metal folded to form several sides running from the base to the point, said folds made sharp, so as to produce sharp angles between the said sides, the base having a projection a therefrom, but an integral part thereof, the said projection of cylindrical shape but of smaller diameter than the base of the complete bodkin, substantially as described.

JOSEPH B. SMITH.

Witnesses:

NEWTON 0. SMITH, H. MINTIE. 

